Coffee with a Cop programme held at Boulders Shopping Centre
Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni says police will protect whistle-blowers at all costs to help crack down hidden crime.
In a bid to encourage community members to report illegal activities to the authorities, Gauteng police and Midrand SAPS held a round-table discussion with community members.
They did this under the Coffee with a Cop programme held at the Boulders Shopping Centre on July 25 where various Midrand and Gauteng police top brass were also in attendance. Coffee was indeed served to both community members and authorities as talks commenced.
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Other stakeholders involved included the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), SAPS Youth Desk, crime prevention wardens, Ria Sebetsa Security Services, IBRC Security, Fidelity Security, and Old Mutual.
The conversation was triggered by high-contact crime in the area to facilitate conversation and partnership with community members.
Sector 5 Crime Forum and Security Cluster chairperson Shawn Benningfield said it was his first time hearing about such an initiative.
“For the first time, I am impressed. But it needs to happen more to ensure that we reach out to the community; to engage with the police is critical. The only way the police will exactly know what is happening on the ground is through the community. With this, people will know and understand that SAPS is engaging the community, and I think that is critical,” said Benningfield.
He said, should this become a success, the community would then have trust back in the police. Benningfield further urged the men and women in blue to sympathise and empathise with crime victims. “Community members are eyes and ears about reporting, but again it comes to trust. That is the biggest problem in South Africa. Police need to consider protection for whistle-blowers and that is where the problem is. Whistle-blowers need to be treated with kid gloves, because once they die, you are likely not to secure [a] conviction for the perpetrators,” he added.
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Ria Sebetsa’s Dillon Maduray said there was lots of engagement with centre patrons and believes it is a good initiative.
“It engages and encourages them to speak to the relevant authorities regarding crime that bothers them. Community tip-offs play a very important role in fighting crime and we need to engage more with communities such as this,” he said.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni said they started this programme in the province to create a sense of safety for the communities.
“We want to work closely with the community. We encourage the community to work with the police to ensure that we all fight crime. The police cannot be on every street or corner of the province. Communities need to come on board and work together,” said Mthombeni.
He said the hits on whistle-blowers were a concern and promised protection to informants.
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